An 18-year-old Michigan man spent just $60 trying to make his daily commute a little easier. Months later, his DIY road repair has helped bring a roughly $3 million reconstruction project to Cherry Hill Road in Dearborn Heights.
Ali Chami became frustrated after repeatedly driving over potholes on Cherry Hill Road, a heavily traveled stretch near the Dearborn Heights-Inkster border. After spending more than $600 replacing damaged tires over six months, he decided to do something about the problem himself.
A fresh update this week from WXYZ News, following up on a Reddit post from March about an 18-year-old teen, has put his good deed back in the limelight. Instead of waiting for the road to be fixed, Chamy bought asphalt at Home Depot and patched two potholes himself. He then posted a video of the project online, where it quickly gained hundreds of thousands of views. “One of them was super deep,” Chamy said in the video. “I’ve now become known as the pothole guy.”
Michigan Reacts
The video also sparked a strong reaction from people familiar with the road. One Reddit user who said they frequently drive that stretch of Cherry Hill said they noticed one of the large potholes was suddenly gone. “Funny that this is why. Good job Ali,” the commenter wrote.
Another person who said they previously lived near that section of Cherry Hill recalled how bad the road had become, writing that the potholes were “ridiculous after every thaw.” A third commenter argued that the problem had existed for so long that Chamy’s video exposed how little attention the road had received.
“Potholes on this stretch isn’t even the worst part, the road has buckled so bad that there are literal speed bumps on a main road. Its been so bad for so long there is a 0% chance the city was unaware of the situation they just got caught ignoring it.” the commenter wrote.
The attention comes as Dearborn Heights officials move forward with a much larger solution. Mayor Mo Baydoun said that Cherry Hill Road reconstruction, originally scheduled for 2027, has been moved up and is now expected to begin this fall. The project is estimated to cost about $3 million.
Baydoun also praised Chamy’s decision to bring attention to the road through social media. “I actually appreciated that video very, very much,” Baydoun said, describing Chamy’s approach as a different way of getting the government’s attention.
